This invention pertains generally to the field of position trainers and muscle strengtheners for musical instrument instruction and, more particularly, to a kinesthetic position trainer, corrector, and up-motion muscle strengthener for fingers, hands, wrists, and arms, the invention configured for use in the instruction of stringed musical instruments.
The concept of playing a violin may seem easy when viewed from an audience point of view. The musician is simply holding a violin, moving the bow back and forth, and generating different sounds as he or she moves his or her fingers along the neck. Beautiful melodies are created, and the whole concept seems simple.
The truth is that it takes years to master the violin. To get a great sound, the bow must be drawn at a perfect ninety-degree angle. The correct amount of pressure on the bow can only come from experience, otherwise a scratchy sound is emitted. Unlike a piano, where a note stays in tune until stopped, the violin requires a well-trained hand position and the correct placement of each finger in relation to the other fingers on the fingerboard. In short, playing the violin requires a musician to put his or her fingers, hands, wrists, and arms in many positions that might feel unnatural.
Violin teachers and makers have developed several devices to help students overcome these challenges. A problem with these devices is that they are not all-in-one devices that truly and realistically show students how to play a violin or other stringed instrument. They fail at being complete kinesthetic simulations of actual upper body position and movement.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,275,202 to Becker discloses a violin practice device. The Becker device comprises a chin rest that incorrectly teaches a student to place his or her chin to the left of the violin neck. Most modern violinists believe the best position for the chin is in the middle of the violin, in line with the violin neck. Also, the Becker device has four buttons for each left-hand finger, but the buttons limit the device to use for down-motion finger exercises. The device is not compatible with finger exercises to teach horizontal, lateral, “stretch-out,” and vibrato motion, or with a broad range of different tetrachord (four-finger) positions. Additionally, the Becker device does not show the student precisely where to place his or her left-hand thumb on the violin neck. The device thus does not teach students the correct way to hold the left hand and force it to come under the violin neck. Further, because the bow of the Becker device is a flat stick, the bow and bow guide of the Becker device are compatible only with back-forth and up-down movement, not rotational movement. The device thus does not allow the student to twist the bow and reproduce an accurate bow movement. Finally, the bow of the Becker device lacks guides for the right-hand fingers, and thus does not teach students where and how to place each finger around the bow. The bow has a thumb notch, but the thumb notch incorrectly teaches the student to place his or her right-hand wrist in back of the bow, not on top.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,239,579 to Solodar discloses a bowing instruction and practice device. The Solodar device is designed exclusively for teaching bow use and technique. The device does not teach the student where to place the thumb and fingers of the left hand. The bow of the Solodar device is limited to practicing ninety-degree bowing, and does not allow for practicing up-down movement. The bow lacks guides showing where to place the right-hand fingers, and is not a useful tool in teaching correct bowing technique.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,727 to Xiao discloses another bow practice device. The Xiao device is similar to the Solodar device, but the bow track on the Xiao device is configured to open up so that a student can place a real violin bow in track. In addition to the problems with the Solodar device, the Xiao device suffers from the additional problem that it will likely scratch or damage a good violin bow.
It should be appreciated from the foregoing description that there is a need for a position trainer and muscle strengthener configured for use in the instruction of stringed musical instruments that does not suffer from the problems described above. More specifically, there is a need for a kinesthetic upper-body position trainer, corrector, and up-motion muscle strengthener that correctly teaches a student to place his or her chin in line with the neck of the stringed instrument; is compatible with finger exercises to teach horizontal, lateral, “stretch-out,” and vibrato motion; teaches students the correct way to hold the left hand and force it to come under the neck of the stringed instrument; allows the student to twist the bow and reproduce an accurate bow movement; allows for practicing up-down bow movement; teaches students where and how to place each finger around the bow; and does not require the use of a real bow. The present invention satisfies these needs and provides further related advantages.